The Problem

Formal books on service design are few and far between so designers have tended to look elsewhere. The skills and values come from other sub-branches of design as well as other disciplines such as economics, psychology or theatre. But these connections aren't always obvious.

My Approach

The early service design community lacked a shared canon, but every designer has their own favorites and many had already written about these selections on weblogs or through Twitter. I saw the potential for a neutral ground for the community to create a shared library.

I began by scouring the web for popular reviews and compiling my own visual rhetoric for sharing books on design. What makes for a helpful review? What tools would do justice for the widest array of picks? How to integrate the community?

At the same time, I knew that the process needed to be streamlined to encourage contributions. Not everyone has time to photograph their selections or write a reveiw. Book listings needed to look good with a minimum of fuss.

My Solution

I created a custom framework in PHP using the Amazon API and Google Books to create a system for automatically importing information. Contributors could edit everying about a listing and add details like chapter information or photos. Others could comment or make their own edits.

Service Design Books supports a range of engagement from simple tagging or rating to more complex contributions such as adding a new book or uploading a photograph.

Since its launch the collection has grown to over 100 books with participation from around the world.